Honey Cakes and Flowers at Dawn
by Demi Brackensick
Summary: An orphaned girl with a missing identity, in search of finding the one thing she has craved the most; a family but most importantly, finding a mother. And a woman with a dark secret she has kept hidden. When their paths cross with one another, will the woman realize that she needs this girl more than the girl needs her?


**Hey guys! So this is officially the new and re-vamped version of "For The Love Of a Daughter"! I hope y'all enjoy the little intro here! I will be taking down the original story very soon, but for now, I hope you guys enjoy this! Let me know what guys think! And before I get on with this, I have a special shout to make to someone special...**

**DRUMROLL!**

**GALIMATIAS! **

**Oh gosh! Words cannot describe what I would do without you! You definitely are a keeper my dear! Shout out to her for helping come up with this amazing title and for helping me structure this thoroughly! Mwah!***

**Anyways, onto the intro!**

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**Introduction**

Her first home was one she didn't remember.

Not that she would have wanted to remember because, she assumed from her current state of location, that they hadn't have wanted to remember her. Though, truly, her existence in the world was beginning to seem more like an epic adventure out of the word of Homer than the life of a twelve year old. Every house had been remembered by the next people who had gotten her. The second family remembered the first. The next remembered the last two. Until finally, everything had dissolved into a mix of myths and stories of how many, and who had been, and they hadn't.

In the end, what did it matter? She was in her twenty-first home, and was not enjoying it in the least.

Normally, children were supposed to be blessed with a sense of direction in life. They were supposed to be born into a warm and cozy shelter that was brimmed with love, protection and security. What children needed most was a family. Flesh and blood or not, they needed parents in their lives.

Well, that was what Mia had thought.

Unfortunately for her, she was naïve enough to believe a foolish lie such as that one.

If such a thing like that was valid, then why did it feel like it was all just added to the collection of odysseys? And if it were true, how is it that a child at her age could end up in so many various homes in the twelve years that she had captured her first breath?

All of these questions littered amongst her skull, and curiosity had eventually found its way inside. If the thought of being loved and secured was true, then why was it that in every home she had been in, was she treated so….horribly?

If she could count the number of her times she had received several lashes to her back for every rule that was accidently broken, was that considered love? If she could remember every ounce of shouting in which demanded her to keep up with her daily household tasks that her small ears were forced to digest, was that considered love as well? If being deprived of hunger and rest for unintentionally washing the clothing the wrong way was an act of love, then why was the feeling displayed so…harshly?

And most importantly, if she could mentally count the amount of homes that she has been bounced to literally every second of the day in her life, was that considered a feeling of security?

If all those things could add up and if they were true, then to her, it was definitely an absurd way of displaying those two major components.

It was all she ever wanted. It was all she ever yearned for in her twelve years of life. But it was something that she was certain she would never find. Not in this life time. Not in the condition that she was living in at the moment.

Despite being taken care of by numerous caregivers that she barely had the chance to blink to even familiarize herself with at least one of them, she was missing out on everything. Missing out on life. Missing out on what it means to have a family. But most importantly, she was missing out on the most precious thing she could think of.

Her childhood.

Such a precious feeling had been stripped from her long time ago. And because of that, a piece of her was missing. Not even a piece, but rather a large chunk of her identity had been taken from her. All she ever knew was that her name was Mia, she was twelve years of age, and that was about it.

She hadn't the slightest hint where she had once belonged. And she hated it. Even if she would politely ask one of the caregivers to provide her with just a tiny shred of information on her heritage, it was always the same answer. 'Hazi!' They'd say, cruelty in every syllable, 'aschimo koritsi, go do your chores!' And like punctuation, finished with a boot to the back. Cold and harsh, lacking any shred of sympathy or compassion.

Her parents on the other hand were a different story. She always wondered who her parents were. What they had done for a living. What kind of people they were. If they were good people, or bad people. Were they nice? Were they mean? But most importantly, she wondered why on earth would they had sent her away?

Maybe it was because…..they hadn't want her?

But, why wouldn't they want her?

The thought of being abandoned is what she desperately feared the most. But at the same time, abandonment is what she was used to. She had grown up through abandonment. With the amount of homes she's been in, not once was did she feel safe and secure. Not once did she feel at home.

Home?

What is a home anyway?

The word 'home' was something she could never had come to the terms to fully grasp. It was word that sounded so foreign that made it difficult for her to digest. As much as she's been exposed to numerous 'homes' in her past, the word 'home' was the last feeling that each of them felt like. If being stuck in crammed cottages or wine sellers with other children that were forced to do chores around the house and feared for their lives of having to endure brutal lashes to the back for disobeying orders by the caregivers was considered a 'home', then that was the only 'home' she would have to endure for the next two years of her life.

Despite the deep hatred she had towards it.

"What are you thinking about?"

Her thoughts were cut short, snapping back to reality as she turned to face where the sound had come from, her chestnut hair following as she realized it the sound had come from another little girl's voice; the girl Delta looked around the same age as she was. She only stared at the girl who was sprawled out on the cold, stoned ground across from her. Fatigue showing her in blues as they locked with the other's brown curious ones, long blonde, silky strands of hair stuck to her sticky skin.

She merely shrugged her lithe shoulders, the loose straps of her tattered dress moving with them, with strap slowly falling down her shoulder, which clearly the dress was a little bit two sizes too big to fit around her tiny body.

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just stuff." She mumbled, her voice barely a whisper. "That…I can't talk about."

The girl frowned in confusion, her blonde bangs falling with her brows. "Why can't you?"

"I…" She bowed her head sadly, wavy chestnut locks curtained her face and spilled down her arms. "Just can't."

The wooden door immediately swung open, pounding loudly into the stoned walls, it's impact feeling like a sudden earthquake was about to erupt, causing the two girls to jump in fright, bodies stiffening as their heads both whipped around in the direction, eyes bulging out of their sockets, mouths hanging open in fright to see the silhouette of a rather large woman standing in the doorway.

The glare that spread amongst her facial features stood out of the most and her eyes cold and dark as they lacked any sympathy or gentleness.

"Hazi!" She hissed. "When I say candles out, I mean _candles out_!"

"I'm sorry-"

"Go to sleep!"

"Yes ma'am."

The girls had both mumbled in unison, immediately obeying the woman's harsh command as she huffed angrily, muttered something cruel that was obviously thrown towards them, turned on her heel and slammed the door shut, loud enough to give them a startle.

Of course, this wasn't the first time she had to endure hearing those cruel words pounding in her ears. She fought to ignore the words that had blatantly been thrown at her just a couple of seconds ago, wincing slightly at just how harsh and cruel she realized they had sounded. Tears brimmed in her eyes but she did not dare let them escape.

When they say candles out, they meant it. No ifs ands or buts about anything. Candles were out and every child was immediately ordered to keep their closed shut and sleep. If sleep did not surround them in the next two seconds and one of the caregivers came in and they were still tossing and turning, it was lash to the back and that was that.

Mia knew better not to make any sudden movement as soon her ears were able to decipher the sounds of feet shuffling on the stairs. She was quite the pro at pretending she had fallen into a peaceful slumber when the door to her room would creak open. Which happened frequently, and on nights like this, it was one of those nights.

She lay steady on her back, exhaustion coating her eyes at they were fixed on the wooden ceiling that loomed over her person. Her thoughts preventing her body from retrieving any rest whatsoever. At this point in time, she had grown tired and she so desperately wanted to fulfill her body with those needs. But for some reason, she just couldn't. And she could never understand why.

Why was it that she was always having these sleepless nights?

Why?

All she could do was wonder. Wonder what the main reason was for keeping her from sleeping at night. As much as she would try and try to seek for the answer that she was desperately looking for, it was still a mystery to her.

Right now, all she could manage to find right now, was sleep. And in a couple of minutes, she did, slowly but surely.

Her eyelids drooped suddenly, and before she knew it, sleep had seeped its way inside of her, and with that, she fell into a deep sleep.

Despite the fact that she may have been asleep at this point, deep in the back of her mind, she knew that she did not want to end up spending the rest of her life as a slave.

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**Hey guys! So what did you guys think of the new introduction? Like it? Hate it? I hope you guys enjoyed this! There will be more to come very soon! Once again, shout out to my amazing beta and good friend of mine, Galimatias for helping me with this! Honestly, I probably would have died without your help!Anyways if you loved, show your love and R&R! Mwah!***


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